The Best of Augmented Reality

Want to use augmented reality to boost sales? Take a page from these smart augmented reality projects that made a big splash--and a big return on investment.

1. London 2012 Olympics

Developer: Xomo Digital/Wikitude

How it worked: One of AR’s first big smashes, the official London 2012 app displayed nearby transportation and scheduling information for more than 40,000 live events based on where users’ cameras happened to be focused.

Result: Millions of fans used the app to navigate the Games.

2. Mitsubishi Electric

Developer: Metaio

How it works: Mitsubishi’s sales force comes armed with a tablet app that allows potential customers to see onscreen how its sleek wall-mounted air conditioner would look in their homes or offices.

Result: The app contributed to a $30 million uptick in 2013 global AC sales.

3. Cadillac

Developer: Daqri

How it works: On the streets of New York City, Miami, Chicago, and San Francisco, artists made chalk murals of the Cadillac ATS. When viewed through a smartphone app, the scenes appeared to come to life.

Result: Some 56,000 people used the app to view the murals, and another 900,000 mentioned the campaign on social media.

4. Heinz Ketchup

Developer: Blippar

How it works: Open the Blippar app on a smartphone or tablet and point it at a bottle of Heinz ketchup. Onscreen, recipes and videos appear to emerge from the label.

Result: Consumers have used the app more than 650,000 times (and counting).